For years - it was lane bryant or old navy for pants. I was always so happy when I fit into some Old Navy clothes because they were a store for "regular" people.

I found this article - http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fa...e-chart-090710

That looks at different clothing makers, the size their jeans says they are and the size they REALLY are.

Ouch.

This is very interesting. I know that in women's clothing sizes vary greatly between stores, however, I always thought that a 36 inch waist was a 36 inch waist, period.

Thank you for that link! Interesting! I always suspected that Old Navy was too generous in their sizing because you KNOW what size you are for the most part - but interesting to see how MUCH oversized they are!!

OMG!! It all makes sense now. No wonder why I need a belt for those pants I bought from there.

So now when we're having a rant about clothing sizes, we can't even lament that women's clothes should just be sized like men's straightforward inches! Not so straightforward after all...

I KNEW it! While I do appreciate being able to fit in smaller sizes, it's frustrating that the sizes vary so much from brand to brand. All this time I thought I was going crazy- I had no idea that a 36" waist could really mean 41".... that's nuts.

I sort of figured this out myself at one point-I tried on a pair of Levi's in a 24 that didn't fit, but yet a 22 from Old Navy fit fine. I know all brands run a little big or small, I guess in Old Navy's case it's a lot big.

I just wish they had their plus size clothes in the store instead of online only.